Forums >Racing>Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023
cal same and I remind myself it take a lot of volunteers to make the event happen. The finish area seemed to be REALLY packed this year to me. I guess I missed the notification of how popular it had become, or maybe it was just the difference in showing up 45 minutes later. I really hope it can come back to the pre-Covid race we loved. Even if Starting Line bag drop was $20 I’m sure it would be popular. At least the medals don’t suck. Everyone is going to expect a backpack now too.
I actually didn't get the medal - I finished early enough when they told me I have to chose either medal or backpack - I guess I was unfortunate, because I know many people received both, but I chose backpack - because I have too many medals I thought, I still think I have too many medals But, it was kind of a little bit special - 40th CIM and 10th CIM I ran (I didn't start one because I was not in the shape).
$20 gear pickup? For $190 dollars race and 9000 participants? You think I can fell back in love with CIM if they do that?
paces PRs - 5K - 5:48 / 10K - 6:05 / HM - 6:14 / FM - 6:26 per mile
Mother of Cats
Water stations at crowded marathons are one of the great aggravations of our avocation. Being able to grab a cup while moving in a pack at race pace and getting more in you than on you is a always a challenge. But of course it’s a necessary evil. I try to get a cup every ~2 miles, or virtually every station, to at least get a little in me. I always think it would be better to either: (1) intentionally come to a complete stop at a few points (if you can manage with the crowd) so you can really get a good drink; I often recommend this to newer marathoners, even though I can’t bring myself to do it. (2) wear a hydration vest so you can avoid the situation completely. Which I have also never done and don’t even own one. And some races, mainly the majors I think, don’t allow it.
Water stations at crowded marathons are one of the great aggravations of our avocation. Being able to grab a cup while moving in a pack at race pace and getting more in you than on you is a always a challenge. But of course it’s a necessary evil. I try to get a cup every ~2 miles, or virtually every station, to at least get a little in me. I always think it would be better to either:
(1) intentionally come to a complete stop at a few points (if you can manage with the crowd) so you can really get a good drink; I often recommend this to newer marathoners, even though I can’t bring myself to do it.
(2) wear a hydration vest so you can avoid the situation completely. Which I have also never done and don’t even own one. And some races, mainly the majors I think, don’t allow it.
I'm seeing more races being cupless, so you have to bring a collapsible cup or water bottle to refill. Sometimes the volunteers will fill them while you grab other food, but often you end up refilling them yourself because the volunteers are busy preparing food or other activities.
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I run nearly all races of 10 miles or longer with a small handheld water bottle (10 oz). It's small and light enough that I don't feel like it slows me any, and I'll swap it back and forth between hands to even out any uneven stress on my body from carrying it.
It's nice because I can skip water stations altogether in shorter races. In marathons, I skip the first couple of water stations. Then, once my bottle is empty, I'll slow at a water station and fill it up with 2-3 cups of water before speeding back up. I find this faster since it's less water stops overall. And it's also nice to be able to sip water on my schedule, rather than the placement of the water tables.
JBlack - welcome! Yup - giving blood can kill your running for a while. I'm not going to criticize the decision, because there's obviously a huge need for it. But there is a cost besides the time spent in the chair.
Everyone's gotta running blog; I'm the only one with a POOL-RUNNING blog.
And...if you want a running Instagram where all the pictures are of cats, I've got you covered.
Not an 80%er
DK - Isn't a mile race awesome!!! How was the feeling in those first 400? Wasn't it like if you're driving a Ferrari?That's how I feel anyways.Kudos, that's an outstanding time and you raced a half in warm weather a few days later, that's crazy hah!
JBlack - I'm even more shocked to see that you had nothing to eat until 4PM and it seems you found it completely fine and didn't think twice about it.If I go that far without eating something my mood will just get worse and worse to the point I just don't want to talk to any humans at all until I've eaten.I'm sure your kiddo will recover very quickly, maybe not quick enough for the next season, but it will be alright in the long run.
Keen - It's nice to know I'm not alone in my vampirical qualities.Thanks for the rec for the soar shorts. Their hot weather T is outstanding, I'll finish a run and barely have any sweat on me.I think you're at a nice level now to plateau a bit. Just do same weights until they become easier.You probably shouldn't hit really heavy weights if your focus is running.The reason being that the closer you fly to the sun the easier it is to get burned heh.
I know that well because I'm trying to focus on both running and the marathon, and then every couple of months I'll have some sort of niggle that's caused by the strength training. But I keep going cause I want to reach some newbie numbers like 150% body weight in the dead lift.Also, trust me, you will know when a strength training session messed up your running.I wanted to ask: How are you tracking that one metric, number of women who introduce themselves, do you keep a spreadsheet on your fridge ?
RP - Kudos for beating the Leprechaun!
PRs: 1500 4:54.1 2019 - 5K 17:53 2023 - 10K 37:55 2023 - HM 1:21:59 2021
Up next: some 800m race (or time trials)
Tool to generate Strava weekly
JBlack - I'm even more shocked to see that you had nothing to eat until 4PM and it seems you found it completely fine and didn't think twice about it.If I go that far without eating something my mood will just get worse and worse to the point I just don't want to talk to any kill all humans at all until I've eaten.
Srsly, I do NOT miss meals.
Dave
I actually didn't get the medal - I finished early enough when they told me I have to chose either medal or backpack - I guess I was unfortunate, because I know many people received both, but I chose backpack - because I have too many medals I thought, I still think I have too many medals But, it was kind of a little bit special - 40th CIM and 10th CIM I ran (I didn't start one because I was not in the shape). $20 gear pickup? For $190 dollars race and 9000 participants? You think I can fell back in love with CIM if they do that?
That’s weird for a race that big/expensive if they make you choose. What kind of backpack? Just one of those drawstring bag things, or something nicer? For as much as I think medals are useless, for a marathon I like to have one. And I have so many of those damn drawstring bags too. They’re good to use as race drop bags when one is not provided, but how many do you need. Re: pre-race drop bags—CIM used to offer this service and no longer do? Can’t remember if they had it in 2021 when I ran it. But they gave everyone a jacket/poncho thing after finishing, which was good enough; the weather usually isn’t so awful that you need more than that.
Dad on the run.
I can assure you it was not intentional. I'm not a huge breakfast eater but lunch is almost always 11am, I just got swamped at work and the next thing I know it's almost 2pm. Also yes, I can find myself hangry pretty quickly but Friday I just didn't have time to think about being ill.
Her swelling is almost all gone but holy crapamoli does she have one heck of a bruise all the way around her foot. She getting around on it just fine now though so that's always a good sign.
Chasing the sub 20 5K.
Cobra Commander Keen
Keen - It's nice to know I'm not alone in my vampirical qualities.Thanks for the rec for the soar shorts. Their hot weather T is outstanding, I'll finish a run and barely have any sweat on me.I think you're at a nice level now to plateau a bit. Just do same weights until they become easier.You probably shouldn't hit really heavy weights if your focus is running.The reason being that the closer you fly to the sun the easier it is to get burned heh. I know that well because I'm trying to focus on both running and the marathon, and then every couple of months I'll have some sort of niggle that's caused by the strength training. But I keep going cause I want to reach some newbie numbers like 150% body weight in the dead lift.Also, trust me, you will know when a strength training session messed up your running.I wanted to ask: How are you tracking that one metric, number of women who introduce themselves, do you keep a spreadsheet on your fridge ?
I have a blank spreadsheet for that one.
I've actually developed a particular callous on my left ring finger, but not on my right. I mentioned this to my wife (it pretty much has to be caused by my ring changing how my skin hits the bar) and she told me in no uncertain terms that I'm not allowed to take off the ring at the gym.
Side note: I've not felt a bit of soreness from any of the weight lifting I've done. I did 2x5 candlesticks yesterday and I can feel some soreness in my upper abs. Stacking on more of those would be a great way of incapacitating myself.
Dave - CIM no longer lets you drop off a bag at the start and pick it up at the end. If you want to use a bag you have to give it to them at the finish line before getting on the bus to the start.
5k: 17:58 11/22 │ 10k: 37:55 9/21 │ HM: 1:23:22 4/22 │ M: 2:56:05 12/22
Upcoming Races:
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Problem Child
https://imgur.com/gallery/nG1nlTt
legit backpack. It has a water bottle mesh/elastic pocket on the other side.
no more starting line bag drop. Pretty sure it was unavailable at 2021. Covid makes everything harder and as one person I know said ‘well maybe they don’t want people crowding around and potentially exposing each other’ when we’re about to run for 3 hours together. It was a cost cutting measure, and it will never return no matter how much they hear it was appreciated by runners. Heck, they can’t even get all the bus drivers to show up on raceday for some unannounced reason.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
https://imgur.com/gallery/nG1nlTt legit backpack. It has a water bottle mesh/elastic pocket on the other side.
Wow, that is a nice one! That may be the best race giveaway I've ever seen. Is that an annual thing now, or something special for the 40th?
The backpack was really really good - they were selling it at the expo for $60 - that's why I didn't hesitate to chose the backpack over the medal (medal was decent though but I have dozens of those . More than that - they also gave away a very thin jacket but that was made of much better material than the jacket/poncho you've got in 2021 - the same shape but darker blue color and better quality overall. Plus they gave away a water bottle again. No, I cannot complain about after-race giveaways - but, opposite to RP, I hope they will have gear pickup at the start back - that's way too obvious negative of the race - it it only requires 4-5 additional trucks.
I didn't hesitate to chose the backpack over the medal
That’s a strange choice for them to give, but seems like a no-brainer!
Well... Most of the runners still got the medal and the backpack - it's just me who was way too polite and believed everything they said - due to my level of education and the way I was raised
This is a big question. I’m assuming it’s a 40th/Last OTQ attempt thing. They had more timing mats this year, and the last time I remember timing mats and updates every 5k was 2019 when I broke 3 for the first time. I believe last year was the standard 10k/13.1/mile 21/finish times.
I was going to skip the meds, but it’s a nice one. I might use it as a coaster for drinks.
cal on the inside left pocket there is a bag you can stuff the jacket into. I’ll have to figure out how I can carry it through a race in the future if I take this one to the starting line. I’d like the gear check at the start to return. I don’t expect it to ever come back. Even if they dropped to 4,500 entrants.
comes out of lurking...
mmerkle, Baltimorre went back to cups. I think that was a covid thing more than anything else. I know 10k Across the Bay is cupless because cups in the bay would be bad and they monitor cups at the Susquehana River Running festival to make sure you throw them away before crossing the route 40 bridge.
Keen, are you training for anything running related right now? I don't lift heavy, limited by what is in my home gym, but if not training for something, make strength building more of a priority. Then when you start a specific build to a race, back off. The tough part is for lower body work, there will be times when running hurts because muscle that you didn;t know exist hurt.
calbears & RP, that is a really nice backpack.
For those getting the strong bags, are they clear-ish? A lot of the larger races are still clear bags only.
Too much education or not enough? I was less well-mannered when I ran it. They had the burrito table after the finish, with a choice of chicken or veggie. I asked for one of each, they said no, only one per runner. I said to myself damn, these are only half-sized, and I just ran 26.2 miles. So I got in another line and got a second one. They were pretty good, too.
I thought they had more when I ran it. I just checked, and they had 5k, 15k, half, 30k, 40k, finish. And in checking, as the results included placing for each split - I see that I passed 464 people in the final 12k, and 80 people in the final 2k.